"Don't worry Mr. President; we should have this done in about six months...."

My friend jpmassar up in the Bay Area has been talking about the Homeowner’s Bill of Rights this past week, but a lot of his writings involve health insurance/care reform. His story today is a must-read for those who are currently receiving treatment for pre-existing conditions and need affordable healthcare. It’s about a transition program within PPACA (the recently Supreme-Court-approved health care bill) to people insured to 2014, when the full bill takes effect, alive. So far, about 70,000 have used it, but with the constitutionality of the bill settled it should soon be many more than that. I’ll give you a teaser here, then go to that link above for more. This could be a lifesaver for someone you know.

Everyone knows that the provision of the PPACA that allows adult kids to be able to stay on their parents’ insurance will continue. And 13,000,000 people are going to take notice as they soon get rebates from their insurance companies because of the PPACA’S spending regulations. But for the most part lost admidst the hoopla are some of the biggest winners of this 5-4 sqeaker: seventy thousand people who have a pre-existing condition and who are now getting health insurance and treatment.

These people are beneficiaries of one of the PPACA’s best (or worst…) kept secrets — the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP. They will now continue to receive benefits until 2014 — instead of being left high and dry sick or dead as Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Kennedy would have preferred.

Projected to benefit over 300,000 US residents after a year of operation, the PCIP program is now only serving 70,000 after almost two years. As such, it is has plenty of space for you (if you need it and qualify), or your relative, or your neighbor, or your acquantaince, or even a stranger you happen to strike up a conversation with. As I detailed several months ago I might have saved a life by telling someone about the program. You might be able to as well.

But many of us here know almost nothing about the program, and some might not even that it exists at all. As Kossack Boris49 put it a year ago

Ask a few people what ((the PPACA)) means to them and their families, they don’t know much more than 26 year olds are covered under their parents plan and pre-existing conditions cannot be excluded by insurers… they (and I) have no clue.
Hopefully I’m about to change that…

If you learn a couple simple facts about the PCIP — or even just keep in mind that it exists — you may be able to point someone towards getting life-saving or life-changing treatments. As of August 1st, 2012, someone you know might be able to start getting desperately needed medical care. Not for free, and that’s unfortunate; but potentially for bazillions less that it would have cost them to purchase such treatment without this insurance, making help a possibility instead of an impossibility.

Here’s the straight dope:

If a person

has a pre-existing condition

cannot get insurance at all or at a non-exhorbitant price because of it

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose worker's rights and government accountability attorney, residing in northwest Brea. General Counsel of CATER, the Coalition of Anaheim Taxpayers for Economic Responsibility, a non-partisan group of people sick of local corruption.
Deposed as Northern Vice Chair of DPOC in April 2014 when his anti-corruption and pro-consumer work in Anaheim infuriated the Building Trades and Teamsters in spring 2014, who then worked with the lawless and power-mad DPOC Chair to eliminate his internal oversight.
Occasionally runs for office to challenge some nasty incumbent who would otherwise run unopposed. (Someday he might pick a fight with the intent to win rather than just dent someone. You'll know it when you see it.) He got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012 and in 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002.
None of his pre-putsch writings ever spoke for the Democratic Party at the local, county, state, national, or galactic level, nor do they now.
A family member co-owns a business offering campaign treasurer services to Democratic candidates and the odd independent. He is very proud of her. He doesn't directly profit from her work and it doesn't affect his coverage. (He does not always favor her clients, though she might hesitate to take one that he truly hated.)
He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.)

8 Comments

I’d LOVE to take advantage of this, and even though I have health insurance, along with a pre-existing condition that would keep me from applying and being approved for a different, cheaper policy, I can’t even think about trying because of the “not been insured for at least six months” provision. I simply can’t risk being without insurance for 6 months. Definitely one weakness in the provision, and I suspect it’s the one that is preventing more people from taking advantage of it.

MRMIP is where I’m at already. And my understanding is that California is simply expanding MRMIP to eventually become the “exchange”. So I can’t drop out of MRMIP for 6 months so that I can get in it again. Well, I could, but then I’d be without coverage for 6 months.

And you’re right…MRMIP ain’t cheap.

I’m basically in a rut where I have to wait for the other major provisions of Obamacare to kick in.

I don’t really “get” the whole PCIP vs MRMIP price differential…why should someone who does not have insurance pay less than someone who has it currently? I get the goal to get everyone insured, but really the pricing are so much different. Sorry about that.

Greg Diamond

Posted July 3, 2012 at 12:27 PM

I think it’s as simple as that the people who haven’t had insurance for six months are perceived to be more truly needy.

I look forward to this all being behind us (presuming Obama’s re-election and ability to veto Republican attempts to dismantle PPACA) in 2014. For now, it’s a mess.

Kb

Posted January 23, 2013 at 11:28 AM

I TOTALLY agree. I have personally been covered all of my life until today because of self-employment and a pre-existing condition simply, hypothyroid GEEZE are they serious? so now I have to look at an expensive State plan (MRMIP). I am considering using the online docs at $40.00 a pop and going without insurance for the 6 months to drop the monthly cost down $200 (PCIP).